Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders could be a Patriots trade target.
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Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders could be a Patriots trade target.
You don’t get much time, after appearing in a Super Bowl, to exhale and assess the state of the team. That’s the reality for the New England Patriots here in mid-February, as the team tries to size up where it needs to improve to get over the hump that the Seahawks presented in the big game, as well as handle a schedule that will be exponentially more difficult in 2026.
The Patriots could continue a slow, steady build, which seems to be the path that coach Mike Vrabel and the front office are on. The Patriots have 11 draft picks in April and, before that, about $40 million in free agency money. Using those assets to improve, roster-wide, is a sensible approach to the offseason.
Or the Patriots could surprise us all and take a swing. Maybe a big swing. That’s because, according to one insider, the Patriots are on a short list of teams that could make a realistic trade play with the Raiders for star pass rusher Maxx Crosby.
Patriots Among 3 Teams With Potential Shot at Maxx Crosby
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Patriots, Seahawks and Cowboys are the top contenders to trade for Crosby, and there’s no doubt that the Patriots could use a seal-the-deal pass rusher on the defensive edge. The Patriots defense vastly improved this year, largely because of the play on the interior of the line as well as the linebackers. But the edges were just mediocre.
At Pro Football Focus, the highest graded Patriots pass rusher was Harold Landry, and he was only No. 43 out of 119. Overall, the Patriots pass rush was rated No. 16.
But getting Crosby to New England will not be cheap. Schultz said the Raiders would require the same sort of package that the Cowboys got for Micah Parsons–a player and two first-round picks.
Maxx Crosby Has Yet to Request a Trade
Here’s how Schultz described what it would take to get the Raiders to send Crosby to the Patriots, or anywhere.
Said Schultz: “The only way the Raiders move Crosby is if they command somewhere along the lines of a Micah Parsons package. If you go back to that deal, that’s the type of haul that the Raiders would have to get to even consider moving Crosby. I don’t even know if they want to move him. I’m not convinced they do.
“If they start to consider moving him as you get past the Combine, that’s where a lot of this stuff starts to materialize, at the Combine, it is going to take a Micah Parsons size haul to make it happen.”
Patriots Would Land a Star
There are not a lot of players who would be worth that outgoing haul for the Patriots, but it could be argued that Crosby is one of them. He ranks among the best pass rushers in the NFL, with 69.5 career sacks in seven seasons, and twice led the league in tackles for loss, with 22 in 2022 and 23 in 2023. He has been a Pro Bowler for five straight seasons, and was rated in the top four among edge rushers by Pro Football Focus every year from 2021-23.
Crosby signed a three-year, $106.5 million contract before last season.
But he has had injury trouble lately, which should provide a note of caution for anyone seeking to trade for him. Crosby played 12 games in 2024, the first time he has missed games in his career, with a high-ankle injury that he had been dealing with since the beginning of the season.
Last season, Crosby had a knee injury that bothered him throughout the season, but he again tried to play through it. The Raiders finally told him they were going to sit him out, in part because they were playing for the No. 1 pick.
Crosby was not happy. “Yeah, I don’t give a (expletive) about the pick,” he said. “I don’t play for that. My job is to be the best defensive end in the world.”
That sparked rumors that a breakup between the sides was coming. The Raiders have already begun the work of trying to soothe Crosby, who has said he wants to retire a Raider. But he also wants to win, and with one playoff game in his entire career and another Raiders rebuild coming, that’s not going to happen soon.